It was like watching the Ultimate
BEAST go after his pray, having no thought of fear, defeat or failure
in his eyes, fresh out of the gate, Williams eyes focused on Roufus
like a Lion on a hunk of meat on a stick. Only 9 seconds into the first round,
he landed a right hand followed by a left leg round kick to Roufus' head
that knocked Roufus down. After the 8 count Williams went on the
attack again. Then the shocking unthinkable happened. At 2:03 of the first, Williams
landed a right hand that KO'ed "The Jet!" At 2:20, referee
Jon Schorle waived it of and all we and many others had to say was "Oh
My GOD!" See for yourself by Clicking
HERE!

RUNDOWN OF THE
NIGHTS ACTION...

Las Vegas, Nevada,
USA: Well known ring announcer Michael Buffer of Marina
Del Ray, California, USA started the night out with the introductions and when
he was done, we were ready to go. (To read more about
Mr. Buffer
go to
www.bufferzone.com)

BOUT
1: International Rules, 3x3, MiddleweightBrian Warren
(Rancho Cucamonga, California, USA, 5'11", 27, 165, 1-1/0,
Shark Tank) defeated Santino Defranco
(Scottsdale, Arizona, USA, 5'10", 20, 156, 11-6/1, Arizona Combat
Sports) by TKO at 1:49 of round 2 due to 3 knockdown rule. Defranco
took a beating on his left leg and looked like he didn't know how to defend any
leg kicks since he didn't properly check any of Warren's right leg
kicks. Warren had won round 1 on all 3 judges cards 10-9.

BOUT
2: Full Contact Rules, 5x2, Super MiddleweightBrian Schwartz (Foster City,
California, USA, 6'3", 29, 1720 12-0/8, Golden State Tae Kwon Do)
defeated Adrian Foster (Phoenix,
Arizona, USA, 6'3", 26, 168, 10-3/3, Team Phoenix) by TKO at 1:26 of
round 1.
Foster was no match at all for Schwartz.
Schwartz as usual had excellent kicks, especially his side kicks
which he scored with often on Foster.

BOUT
4: K-1 Rules, Light HeavyweightBlake
Lirette (Canada, 5'11", 24, 172, 13-1/5, Champions Martial
Arts Academy) defeated Heath Harris (San Diego, California, USA,
6'1, 173) by KO at :29 seconds into round 2 with a great spinning side kick
that caught Harris just below the ribs. The ring announcer announced
Harris' record as 29 wins with only 1 loss and 28 wins by KO, but we
know his record as 1-4 as a pro
and 14-5 with 14 KO's as an amateur.Harris was a last second
fill in who replaced
Kit Cope who was injured in a car accident
this week. Harris took a very hard groin kick in round 1 but seemed to
have won round 1 easily on our cards. However on the judges cards, one judge
actually had it for Lirette 10-9.5 while the other two judges had Harris
winning 10-9. Have we mentioned yet that we hate that half point scoring!

K-1 TOURNAMENT - ROUND 1

BOUT
5: 3 X 3 HeavyweightCarter
Williams (Modesto, California, USA, 6', 22, 235, 30-5/22, Team
Voodoo USA, Gene & Cat Fields) faced off against last years K-1 USA
Champion,
Michael McDonald (Canada, 5'11",
38, 217, 40-13/14, Independent). In our opinion, round 1 and 2 seemed very
even. In round 2, Williams looked like he scored more but it wouldn't be
a surprise to see a judge score it 10-10. On the judges cards two of them gave
Williams round 1, 10-9.5 while the other gave it to McDonald
10-9.5.For round 2, all 3 judges gave it to Williams. Two scored it
10-9.5 while the third had it 10-9. Round 3 is where the ghost of endurance
showed it's face to Williams.McDonald scored on several good
shots and what would seem to sway the judges more towards him was that Williams
got tired. He seemed slow and tired and had a look on his face of, "What
can I do to hurt this guy?" This continued through the round and round
3 was easily McDonald's on the judges cards. All three of them this time
scored it 10-9.5. Would the ghost of endurance came back to haunt Williams
again? Not so, it was a surprise upset as Williams took McDonald
by split decision, 29.5-28.5 Williams, 29.5-29 McDonald,
29.5-29,
Williams. The new kid at K-1 dodged his ghost and had beat the Champion!
If he didn't win again from here forward he had made plenty of us not only proud
but also believe even more that this former IKF USA National Champion
was for real! However, little did we know, Williams would not be content
to finish before the final, let alone that. Have we mentioned yet that we
hate that half point scoring!!!

BOUT
6: 3 X 3 HeavyweightYusuke
Fujimoto (Japan, 5'10", 27, 225, 10-4/6, Monster Factory)
and
Dewey Cooper (Las Vegas, Nevada, USA,
6'1", 28, 202, 27-4-1/17, One Kicks) Referee Cecil Peoples must
have been expecting a phone call in round 1 since he had it snapped to his belt.
Good thing he took it off for the rest of the fight. Fujimoto seemed to
win the round, that is if not for Cooper knocking Fujimoto down
in round 1. However it was more of Fujimoto's power coming into Coopers
punch as he bounced off the ropes. We agreed and so did two of the judges who
scored it for Cooper 10-9 while the third scored it for Cooper
10-8. In round 2, Cooper's left arm took a beating from Fujimoto's
right leg and it looked to easily be Fujimoto's round as Cooper
didn't land anything of any power. The judges agreed as all 3 scored it for Fujimoto
10-9. Will Cooperhope his surprise knockdown in round 1 be enough math
to give him the draw or maybe even a win? Who knows, but what we did know was he
needed to get busy!
In round 3, although
Cooper came with more this round, he took an even worse beating from
both of Fujimoto's hands and legs. Again all three judges agreed and two
gave it to Fujimoto 10-9.5 while the third gave it to him 10-9. Fujimoto
takes the majority decision win, 28-28, 29-28.5, and 29-28.5.
Have we mentioned yet how much we hate that half point scoring system!!!
Come on, either you think the guy won the round or he didn't, lose this "Sorta
won, sorta lost scoring!"

BOUT
7: 3 X 3 HeavyweightReferee Nelson Hamilton must
have been planning to write something during the bout since he came into the
ring with a pen in his pocket. Someone check these guys before they get in the
ring! Eduardo Morais (Campo Grande,
Brazil, 6'2", 23, 227, 18-1/11, Champions Factory) thought he had a
chance as a surprise pick for this first installment of K-1 USA but
Rick Roufus (Milwaukee, Wisconsin,
USA, 5'11", 36, 210, 57-6/38, Independent) introduced him to his BIG
LEFT HAND as he knocked him down twice in the round! According to K-1 rules,
after Roufus knocked Morais down the second time, the bout
should have been over. However referee Hamilton made a mistake and
allowed the bout to continue. Good thing for judge Cecil Peoples who was
frantically waving his hands to stop the fight which the time keeper finally
did. Roufus by TKO due to 2 knockdown rule. Good thing for Morais
he didn't have to get that third one! He was out on his feet after the
second!

BOUT
8: 3 X 3 Heavyweight Although they announced it as only
an 15 lb weight difference, this looked more like 30 to 40 as little David,Giuseppe DeNatale (Winnipeg, Manitoba,
Canada, 6', 29, 207, 18-6/16, Duke Roufus) faced off against the Big MO,
Goliath,Maurice Smith (Seattle,
Washington, USA, 6'1", 41, 222, 62-8-4/45, Maurice Smith Kickboxing).
DeNatale was clearly the smallest of the tournament at 207 lbs but he's
been here before in Milwaukee
in 2002. Only this was, this wasn't Wisconsin or Kansas for that
matter. This was Las Vegas and David doesn't live here. At least not on
this night anyway.Round one seemed like the speed of the Utah Jazz
basketball team, or a well known speed for
MO! It was quiet, slow and boring doing just enough to win 10-9.5 on two
judges cards and 10-9 on the other.Smith came out on fire in round
2 but the fire only lasted about 20 seconds and we were back to that slow game
again. But again, it was enough to win all three judges cards 10-9. In
round 3, Smith came out strong again and it looked like he wanted to end
it quick. But David (DeNatale) stood up to the storm as we have
seen him do before. In fact, DeNatale even hurt Big Mo with one
shot... One. Smith hit DeNatale low and after the pause, the two
embraced and DeNatale kissed Smith on the ear. Big Mo
wasn't laughing as he exploded on DeNatale as if to say, "Don't
insult me!" Round 3 was all Smith who took the round 10-9.5on
all the judges cards and the win by unanimous decision, 30-27.5, 30-28,
29.5-28.5. Have we mentioned yet how much we hate that half point scoring
system!!! Either you won or you didn't!

Tournament AlternateJeff Ford (Kansas City, Missouri, USA, 6'2", 32, 248, 28-7/19,
Combat Sports Fitness Academy) was here but not needed. Makes us wonder,
Ford being from the USA, why wasn't he in the 8 man tournament? Sources
told us that K-1 had to have a Japanese fighter in the tournament to sell it to
Japan PPV. OK, so why didn't Ford take the spot of the Brazilian
fighter? No comment.

Super Fight

Bout 9: San Shou, 4x2,
Light HeavyweightIn San Shou you don't have to throw to win but
when IKF Pro San Shou World Champion
Cung Le (San Jose, California, USA,
5'10", 30, 180, 38-3/26, Cung Le's) throws, it's purely entertainment
for us all. Le scored 8 points in round 1 on opponent
Scott Sheeley (Bellefontaine, Ohio,
USA, 5'11", 35, 180, 28-8/12, Sheeley's Iron Tigers) and won the round
on all 3 judges cards. We were surprised to see the half point scoring system
here as well as 2 judges scored it 10-8 and the third 10-8.5.In round 2
both
Le and Sheeley looked to pick it up but when Le's shin
slammed into Sheeley's forehead it started to bleed badly. It didn't
phase Le
other than make him go after Sheeley like a wild animal that smells
blood. Le pressed the throws more but in the end it was his hands and
his feet that forced referee Jon Schorlee to give Le the TKO win
when he stopped the bout at 1:15 of round 2. Win for Cung Le?What's
new...!

K-1 Tournament Semi FinalsBOUT 10: 3 X 3
HeavyweightCarter Williams
VsYusuke Fujimoto: Round 1 was all
Williams as he pressed Fujimoto and scored a knockdown with a
front kick. The judges agreed with two scoring it 10-8 and the third 10-8.5.
8.5? Whatever! Although Williams scored with some good shots, that ghost
of endurance showed his face again. Will Williams wind last another
round? The look on his face said one thing and only one thing... Bring It ON!Round 2 brought more action by
both and endurance seemed to slow them both down. Whoever wins still has one
more fight so they better take a breath or need a little luck with a shot! The
luck came Williams way as he landed a left leg to Fujimoto's
face when he tried to duck what he thought was going to be a Williams
head kick. It was the knockdown Williams needed to gain motivation. He
had momentum but did he have the wind? It was
William's hands that did the damage for the second. Is there a new BEAST
in the house? Williams looked extremely winded and kept his hands far
too low but Fujimoto could never take advantage of it. Williams
wins by TKO at 2:26 of round 2, due to the K-1, 2 knockdown rule.

BOUT
11: 3 X 3 HeavyweightRick "The Jet"
RoufusVs Maurice Smith: Nothing new here, a
slow starting Smith vs a Jet that knew he had to take off quick.
Roufus easily took round 1, 10-9 on all three judges cards.In round
2, "The Jet dropped a BOMB" as Roufus lands that
wicked left again he kept landing on Eduardo Morais in his first bout.
Smith took a standing 8 and "THE JET ROARED ON! Roufus won
the round 10-8 on two of the three judges cards but who was the judge that
scored it 10-8.5? Was he crazy?In round 3, Roufus continued to
dominate with confidence throwing a fancy jump spin kick that would make the
Matrix movie proud. If Roufus doesn't take this one, shoot us!
No need to dodge a bullet here, Roufus took round 3, 10-9.5 but who's
the judge that gave round three to Smith 10-9.5? Must be the crazy one.
Roufus, despite the crazy judge takes this one easily by unanimous
decision, 30-26.5, 30-26.5 and 29.5-27.5.
Have we mentioned yet how much we "STILL" hate that half point
scoring system!!!

Super Fight - Flex Fight

BOUT 12: Heavyweight -
5x3 - K-1 Rules Gary Goodridge
(Canada, 6'2", 37, 235, 27-15-1/13, Ultimate Thai Boxing)
Vs Mark Hunt (New Zealand, 5'10",
29, 282, 27-11-1/13, Liverpool Kickboxing). Not to be insulting in any way
but this was just two big guys in a "Slugfest!"... Yes, "SLUG",
meaning where were the kicks? Those who complained about the
LaBree vs Rosier
fight PPV back on the 1999 Mass Destruction event had to easily
agree, this was far worse! At least LaBree and Rosier knew how
to kick and did.Wasn't this a kickboxing bout? By the end of this one we
could have counted all the kicks on "ONE" hand. We felt sorry for the
K-1 promoters who thought like all of us did, "What a great fight this
will be!" We felt for the KICKBOXING fans as well, but the boxing fans
were either loving it or laughing at what was being called kickboxing. Although
these guys proved they could not only hit hard but take a big hit as well, we
all wanted kickboxing and all we saw was a boxing bash! We thought it was a coin
toss, maybe because for the lack of kickboxing action but the judges saw it more
clearly. Mark Hunt won it by unanimous decision, 50-45.5, 49-45.5 and
49.5-46.

K-1 Final

BOUT 13: 3 X 3
HeavyweightCarter Williams Vs
Rick Roufus: What could be better for us here at the IKF. Neither way would we lose. We were proud to
have two IKF Champions in the main event!
Roufus, a current IKF Pro IR World Champion and Williams
a previous
(2001) IKF USA National Amateur Champion. As we
said, either way we were proud for both who made it to the final tonight!

Roufus seemed to end his last bout strong and still
fresh. It seemed to many that the K-1 title that eluded him last year was his to
win this year. On the other side of the ring was the new kid! He had everything
to gain and nothing to lose against a fighter he had respected greatly for his
power and skill as he fought his way to tonight. In question for many was still
Williams wind. Would the ghost of endurance past continue to haunt him
or would he scare the Ghost away himself? Well, can you say Booo!

One thing was for sure. This was the FINAL! The Championship
bout! Whatever they had left was sure to hang out here. At this point if
endurance was a worry for Williams he knew he had to Shoot "The
Jet" down Quick!

Let the Beast Loose!Williams
came out of the corner and exploded on Roufus and scored a knockdown.
After Roufus came to his feet referee Jon Schorle finished the 8
count but when the action went on Roufus still looked a little groggy.
Still he managed to score some on
Williams but it wasn't the Roufus we know. Then without warning
Williams shot a missile at "The JET" and
brought him down! A solid right hand square on Roufus' jaw and he was on
his back! Referee Schorle started the count but quickly put a stop to
his efforts. This one was over at 2:20 of the 1st round and all we could say was

"Oh My GOD! We have a NEW BEAST!

ADDED AFTER TOURNAMENTSUNDAY,
May 4th, 2003, AT 11:40 PM,
PST

See Williams'
K-1 KO Win Yourself !

It was like watching the Ultimate
BEAST go after his pray, having no thought of fear, defeat or failure
in his eyes. Fresh out of the gate, Williams eyes focused on Roufus
like a Lion on a hunk of meat on a stick. Only 9 seconds into the first round,
he landed a right hand followed by a left leg round kick to Roufus' head
that knocked Roufus down. After the 8 count Williams went on the
attack again. Then the shocking unthinkable happened. At 2:03 of the first, Williams
landed a right hand that KO'ed "The Jet!" At 2:20, referee Jon
Schorle waived it of and all we and many others had to say was "Oh
My GOD!"

Now you can download this dynamic attack of Carter
Williams on Rick Roufus at this last Friday nights K-1 Event in Las
Vegas, Nevada, USA. To do so, Click
HERE!

Flex FightBOUT 15: 3x3Mushashi (Japan, 6'1", 30, 228,
24-18-4/9, Seido Kaikan) vs Nobuaki Kakuda
(Japan, 5'9", 41, 206, 12-6-4/6, Seido Kaikan). This was suppose to
be a kickboxing bout but it appeared more like an old style full contact karate
bout with kei's and all. Well, according to sources, this was far from a bout of
two fighters hating each other. We were told that Mushashi is Kakuda
student. That didn't make Kakuda feel any better after taking a ton of
shots from Mushashi in the second and third rounds. However it looked
like a movie where the hero could take shot after shot and continue to get up.
Wait, better yet, this was the movie Rocky all over again. Mushashi had
plenty of opportunities to end Kakuda but for whatever reason, wouldn't
do so. Do we dare to say this looked like a staged Rocky movie? Better not. In
the end, it went to the judges for a unanimous decision, 30-23, 30-23.5 and
30-23.5, Mushashi! After the decision, Kakuda even gave a career
ending speech that sounded like Rocky Balboa in Rocky 4. Oh and as we
end, did we mentioned how much we "STILL" hate that half point scoring
system? Well, we do...

Great Show
K-1 and GREAT JOB by Super Promoter Scott
Coker for an Excellent Show!

TUESDAY,
April 29th 2003, AT 2:00 PM,
PT

K-1 USA RETURNS TOLAS VEGAS NEVADA This Friday NightMay
2nd, 2003!

Last year the pre event headline on the May K-1 USA 2002
read "K-1 North America..... Is It McDonalds To Win... Or
Lose..?" In the end, with a little help from an injury to Rick
Roufus,Michael McDonald (Right) won it all!

Rufus Vs Williams

Maurice Smith

Dewey Cooper

Fields

Giuseppe DeNatale

Michael McDonald

Carter Williams

Bob Sapp

Javiar Mendez

L: Carter Williams

However this year the crop of talent is different. Although
Mcdonald (Nicknamed the Black Sniper!) may still have the odds
according to the Las Vegas books, the competition is sure to be hungry and ready
for him.

The competition to him may be a surprise in some potential
match-ups, especially in his opening bout at the
Mirage
in Las Vegas this weekend where he will face off against a young and explosive
fighter Carter Williams (Right) of Modesto, California, USA.

At last years event
McDonald and IKF Pro IR World
Champion Rick Roufus (Both Pictured at Left) made it to the
final round for a rematch of their January 22nd, 1994 bout at Caesars Tahoe
Nevada. In the 1994 bout, Rick fought and defeated a much smaller
McDonald to win the IKF Full
Contact Rules Light Heavyweight World Title. In that bout Rick weighed
in at 179 lbs. to McDonalds 178. It was over quickly as Roufus
knocked McDonald out "COLD" at only 43 seconds of the first
round. It was a rematch the now number
1 IKF Ranked Heavyweight McDonald
was looking forward to, especially with leg kicks this time...

However "According to sources", Roufus
had slipped on the ring canvas in his second bout of the night and actually tore
his ACL. Against McDonald he fought cautious due to the injury because
he didn't want to risk hurting it more. In the end, he felt like he had done
enough to win. However after 3 explosive rounds of action, the scores were Judge
#1: 29.5 to 28.5 Roufus, Judge #2: 29.5 to 29 Roufus and Judge
#3: 29.5 to 29 McDonald (Source Nevada Boxing Commission).
Although it should have been a "Majority Decision Win" for Roufus,
instead, it was a draw due to K-1 rules requiring you to win a tournament by 2
full points. Because of his injury, Roufus withdraw from the bout by
choosing not to fight the extra 4th round, giving McDonald the win.
Unfortunately Roufus lost to the rules not McDonald.

This year McDonald would like to meet Roufus
again to prove to everyone that he could beat Roufus straight up. But he
will need to make it through his side of the bracket first and hope Roufus
does the same before such a meeting would take place. Here's how the 8 man
bracket stands as of today;

The surprise here is the 2 fighters from outside North America.
Yusuke Fujimoto from Japan and Eduardo Maiorino from Brazil.
This tournament is suppose to feature fighters from only North America however
K-1 matchmaker Javiar Mendez has probably been pulling his hair out as
one has said due to bad scheduling of some of the previously matched contenders.

The featured fighter,
Bob Sapp (Right on the ground) was to be the big draw for
everyone at this years event. However someone in the K-1 Headquarters screwed up
and matched Sapp on another K-1 event inside 45 days prior to this one.
The result, a matchmakers nightmare!

At 6' 7" tall and 374 lbs, very few thought Sapp
could be put down but the big hype for K-1 was stopped BIG! At the K-1 show in
Omiya at Saitama Super Arena, Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic had
little trouble in defeating Sapp at 1 minute, 26 seconds of round 1 when
he clocked Sapp in the eye and dropped him, breaking Sapp's eye
socket. (See story "Minus One BEAST At K-1 USA... And a TANK!" By
clicking HERE)

The Japanese media billed Mirko's win over Sapp
as if a normal human being had defeated Godzilla. As of March 24th, the K-1 USA
tournament consisted of; Sapp, Michael McDonald, Rick Roufus, Dewey Cooper,
Giuseppe DeNatale, Chad Bannon, Jefferson Silvia and
Carter Williams. However, at the same event
Sapp got KO'ed, Ernesto Hoost KO'ed Silva. A week later,
Chad Bannon's performance was so poor at another event that K-1
matchmakers pulled him off the May card. This left K-1 USA matchmaker Javiar
Mendez (Right) and the K-1 Headquarters with 3 spots to fill and in
their opinion, there was no one else in North America to fill them. At least no
one else that K-1 Japan wanted to see on the card.

Mendez had experience with this kind of pressure before
because at last years May 2002 K-1 they lost 4 of their originally booked
fighters, Maurice Smith, Duke Roufus, Thomasz Kucharzewski and Basem
Balbaki. Although
Balbaki and Kucharzewski were no media loss, Smith and
Duke were. But Mendez made the loss a gain when he booked Duke's
brother Rick Roufus for the event.

So Mendez and K-1 Japan went to work to fix the 2003
May event. Again, as before, the loss was turned into a gain as they booked K-1
veteran Maurice Smith (Left) of Seattle, Washington, USA who had
said a year ago he was done with K-1. At 41 years old Smith will
certainly be the elder (no offense Maurice) senior in the mix.
However Smith is no stranger to winning. Smith won this very
same event 2 years ago on May
5th, 2001.

Although some questioned his win and still do. After 3 rounds
in the Championship Bout, It was a Majority Draw... So in a "Do or Die"
extra round judges Jon Shirley of California & Jeff Mullens
of Tennessee gave the round to
Smith 10 to 9.5 while judge
Moretti had it 10-9.5 McDonald. Few in the house saw a Smith win
but the judges words stood and Smith walked out of the ring with a split
decision victory.

It was the the 3rd K-1 USA Promoted by World Class Promoter
Scott Coker (Right) of San Jose, CA, USA. Smith will be
familiar with the surroundings because that event was also at the Mirage.

But K-1 isn't the only venue Smith has walked out of
the ring a Champion. To his credit he has won kickboxing titles with the WKC (1983),
WKA (1983 to 1997) ISKA (1996) and Mixed Martial Arts (NHB)
Titles from BATTLECADES, EXTREME Fighting Champion III, IV and UFC XIV, XV. Over
his career he has to his credit well over 60 wins and over 50 wins by KO.TKO!
With that being said his first round opponent, Giuseppe DeNatale of
Canada should have his hands full for a second year in a row.

The surprises came when Yusuke Fujimoto from Japan and
Eduardo Maiorino from Brazil were placed in the mix. This event is
suppose to feature fighters from only North America so how did they make it onto
the card? Well we don't know it all but the talk on the street is they needed a
Japanese fighter, Fujimoto, since the event was to be aired live in
Japan. Sources say that K-1's new TV deal requested a Japanese fighter so they
could boost their TV ratings. Ok, so where does Maiorino fit in? Well,
we can't seem to find out so it will just be a mystery to us all for now. REGARDLESS,
K-1 USA has brought 8 fighters together to via for the May Crown!

As for the other talent, Dewey Cooper (Left)
of Las Vegas, Nevada, USA is on the card once again in the tournament bracket.
Last May Cooper defeated Jean Claude Leuyer by unanimous
decision but lost in round 2 to Rick Roufus by unanimous decision. Cooper
will be matched up against Yusuke Fujimoto from Japan in round one. If
he makes it past Fujimoto he will face either Williams or McDonald.

As we noted earlier, McDonald will face off against a
young and explosive fighter named Carter Williams (Right - Punching)
of Modesto, California, USA trained by
Gene Fields (Left). Williams was the
2001
IKF USA National Amateur Super Heavyweight
Champion. However, that won't impress McDonald much.

Although Williams impressed the K-1 Team on the
undercard last May, McDonald probably knows little about him since he
was in the locker room preparing for his next bout. At the 2002 K-1-USA May
event, Williams defeated former IKF
Amateur West Coast USA Champion Manuel Quesada by TKO at 1:36 of round
2. Since then Williams has been winning every time he steps into the
ring in Pro Kickboxing, Boxing and MMA.

Winning is all Williams knows now. He's the youngest of
all the tournament fighters at 22 years old. Over the last year he has defeated
such noted fighters as Jeff Ford and Dan Lucas. In fact, since
Sapp and his "Beast" nickname was dropped from the tournament
the fan noise now is that there is a new "BEAST" in the house
and his name is Carter Williams! It will be interesting to see how much
of the "BEAST" comes to the ring Friday night.

Last year Giuseppe DeNatale (Left) got a taste
of his own luck when he was defeated by McDonald by Referee stoppage due
to the 2 knockdown rule. This rule was the same rule that got him past Carter
Williams last year at the K-1 USA Qualifier event in Milwaukee Wisconsin.
What's that saying, "Live by the sword, die by the sword."

Whatever that means, DeNatale is back again this year
and better prepared. His experience of McDonald has stayed with the 29
year old and he will probably remember it for some time. "That was the
worst beating I ever took in a fight. Nobody ever threw stuff at me like he did,"
said DeNatale.

After taking a beating from McDonald the referee
stopped it with only 10 seconds remaining in the bout. The loss might not have
been so bad if he was marked down for a decision loss instead of a TKO but blame
that K-1, 2 knockdown rule for that. The same rule that got DeNatale
past Williams in Milwaukee was the end for him last year in Vegas.
Hopefully no rules will keep him out of the winners bracket this Friday night.
In addition, he will need to keep a composed head and not get caught up in the
awe of the crowd like he did last year and more so, his opponent this year.
That's because he will face off in round one against one of the greatest
fighters of all times, Maurice Smith.

DeNatale is also a former IKF
Amateur Champion. He won his IKF Amateur Canadian Heavyweight Title on February
10th, 2000, in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada by TKO at 1:33 of the 3rd
round over Ryan Graham when he landed a head kick on Graham that
dropped him. He voluntarily retired the title in 2000 to turn Pro. For more on
DeNatale click
HERE!

UNDERCARD BOUTS

As of this press time we did not have a full undercard list. However we do
know that one of the undercard bouts will be one of the most exciting of the
night because, CUNG LE IS BACK!

Yes, current IKF Pro San Shou Champion Cung Le (Left)
will make his long awaited return to K-1. Le will be fighting a 4 round
non title bout against an opponent he's already fought before. "It's
great to have the opportunity to fight again on a K-1 card," said Le
who was last seen on a K-1 event in May 2000 when he defeated 3 time Shidokan
Karate champion Laimon Mohamed
Keita in a Superfight.

His opponent this time will be a rematch with Scott Sheeley. Four
years ago, Le defeated Sheeley after successfully executing a
throw that broke Sheeley's cheek bone. In our opinion, Sheeley
may be not be the worst of Le's worries. The two will have a referee in
the ring that knows very little about San Shou scoring and may very well make
costly mistakes. With that being said, both Le and Sheeley may
be fighting the referee Friday night more than each other. It will be an
interesting match to watch, especially how the referee scores the throws. Expect
mistakes because we can assure you, "They will Happen!" To
read more about Le click
HERE!

And if all these fights are not enough, you can look forward to a special
feature bout with 23-year old former Playboy model La Tasha Marzolla (Right).
Marzolla will make her K-1 USA debut at the 2003 event. But can she
fight?

Well according to sources, on February 7th of this year the 5'6",
118-pound Marzolla scored two knockdowns on female kickboxer Nina
Magsamin over the course of three, two-minute rounds before being awarded a
unanimous decision victory at The Stardust Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas during
an all-women's kickboxing fight card.

"I was a little nervous because it was my first fight,"
admitted Marzolla. "I think my adrenaline got in the way a bit,
but it turned out really good anyway. I'll be more prepared for this fight
mentally because I know what's gonna happen in the ring. So, it's gonna be
easier for me to knock her out."

Her bout this Friday will be a rematch with Magsamin during the
event's preliminary card. To read more about her see Michael Afromowitz
full article by clicking
HERE!

Ticket prices are $30, $50, $100, $150, and $250 and can be purchased either
online at the K-1 USA website (www.k-1usa.net) store or by calling The
Mirage box office at (702) 791-7236.

The winner of the event will meet semi finalists from seven different
countries in Las Vegas in August for the K-1 World Semi Finals and a chance to
go onto the 2002 K-1 World Grand Prix at the Tokyo Dome.

Back To The
IKFK-1 USA PAGE,
Click HERE!Back
To The
IKF NEWS PAGE,
Click HERE!